Display stands and containers for articles



Feb. 2, 1960 M, LAUGHTQN 2,923,414

DISPLAY STANDS AND CONTAINERS FOR ARTICLES Filed March 3. 1958 2Sheeta-Sheet 1 1m 7441M Wow my A M Feb. 2, 1960 M. LAUGHTON 2,923,414

DISPLAY STANDS AND CONTAINERS FOR ARTICLES Filed March 3, 1958 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent DISPLAY STANDS AND CONTAINERS FORARTICLES Malcolm Laughton, Selly Oak, Birmingham, England, assignor toFoster Grant Company Incorporated, Lenininster, Mass.

Application March 3, 1958, Serial No. 718,530

Claims priority, application Great Britain March 26, 1957 2 Claims. (Cl.211-49) The invention relates to display stands and storage containersor holders for articles for use for example on shop counters or worksstore counters.

Many articles are displayed in shops in holders and stands where theycan be readily seen and examined and easily removed for sale or otherreasons. of articles are arranged in a stand or holder one behindanother in a vertical or inclined position, the removal of one or moreof them may leave the remainder loose and liable to be disarranged inthe stand or holder, or in a compartment thereof where the stand orholder is partitioned to take a number of groups of articles.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a multiplecompartment display stand or holder with the compartments side by sideand closed, when no articles are in place, by a flap which flap ishinged by a bent lip over an edge at the rear of the stand and urgedinto a position to engage articles in the compartment by a tensionspring connected to the lip.

A convenient embodiment of the invention is to hinge a curved flap to aback wall, or a bar across the back of each compartment of a holder. Theflap may be hinged at its upper part in the manner hereinbefore referredto and is loaded by a tension spring arranged to move the lower part ofthe flap forwardly around the hinge axis. In this construction the flapis preferably curved near its lower end in a rearward directionrelatively to its supporting surface so that as the latter moves in acurved path, forwardly and upwardly, it does not present an edge but asmooth pressure surface against the article at the back of a group.

In the appended drawings,

Figure 1 is a front view of a stand or holder with a number ofcompartments.

Figure 2 is a rear view of the stand or holder shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

The construction shown in the drawings comprises a front wall a, side orend walls 0, base or floor d, and a bar g across the back. The frontwall a is preferably lower than the back bar and one end of the wall ispreferably lower than the other, the upper edge of the low front wallbeing curved or inclined downwardly to join the lower of the side wallsat a point well below the upper edge of the latter. The upper edge ofthe back bar g is stepped down in a series of shallow steps h to theupper edge of the lower side wall. Division bars or forwardly extendingwalls i or complete partitions divide the interior of the stand into aseries of compartments, the upper edge of each division bar or partitioni rising from the front to the back, see Figure 3. In each of thecompartments formed by the division bars or partitions i a hinged flapor closure 1 is mounted. Each fiap is made with a lip k or flangeperpendicular to the remainder of the flap or inclined at a considerableangle to the flap, and the flap is hinged or pivoted by arranging thelip k or flange to overhang the upper edge of the back bar or wall g. Atension spring I is connected to the lip If a number or flange and thespring is suitably anchored at its other end to the back bar g as shownat m or to the base das' shown at n. As the flap is pressed down, thetension of the spring is increased and the spring loading retains theflap in contact with the rearmost article of a group in the compartmentand supports them in upright position. When no articles are in front ofit, the flap moves into light contact with the inside face of the frontwall as shown in Figure 3. Each flap is curved rearwardly in its lowerpart as at 0 for the purpose hereinbefore mentioned. The tension springsmay be rubber loops p.

The stand is convenient for use with a number of articles such as combs,small rules or scales, rows of pencils, or other articles, the length ofwhich is large in relation to the thickness of the article so that anumber of the articles can be inserted one behind the other in thecompartments and will be kept in a position in which the upper part ofthe article is displayed but the articles are retained in orderedposition and are not disturbed as individual articles are removed forsale or inspection. Further, articles may be returned to the pile bysimply pushing them down into the compartment, most conveniently downthe front of the flap behind any other articles already in thecompartment. The stand or holder can be conveniently made of mouldedplastic, light metal or other materials.

I claim:

1. A display stand and holder for articles comprising a floor, a frontwall united to end walls and to the floor, and a back bar havingforwardly extending walls projecting from it at spaced intervals, theforward ends of said forwardly extending walls being united to the frontwall to divide the stand and holder into a series of compartments; aunitary closure flap for each compartment of the series, each flap beingof a width substantially that of the compartment, extending over andsupported by the back bar between adjacent walls and having a downwardlyextending lip rearwardly of the bar and a downwardly extending frontend, each flap being spring loaded by a tension spring one end of whichis connected to the lower end of the lip and the other end thereofanchored to a fixed part of the stand, the downwardly extending frontend of each flap abutting the inner surface of the front wall when itscompartment is empty and bearing against and supporting articles bypressure thereon when articles are inserted in its compartment in suchmanner that articles can be stored one behind the other in displayedcondition in each compartment and withdrawn therefrom for inspection andsale and also returned thereto.

2. A display stand and holder in accordance with claim 1 in which thedownwardly extending front end References Cited in the file of thispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 181,834 Goehring Sept. 5, 1876 954,102Hutchings Apr. 5, 1910 1,277,987 Miller Sept. 3, 1918 2,111,496 ScribaMar. 15, 1938 2,114,935 Parsons Apr. 19, 1938 2,124,780 Keppler June 26,1938

